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Feb. 13, 2003

ULM Receives Grant for Teacher Technology Training

The University of Louisiana at Monroe's Innovative Teachers program partnership has a new program designed to assist prospective and practicing K-12 teachers in effectively using technology in the classroom.

ULM is a selective admissions, state-funded institution of higher education, which offers undergraduate and graduate academic and experiential opportunities to meet the academic, cultural, career, social and personal needs of their students. With the support of the $200,000 from the Innovative Teachers grant from Microsoft Corp. and the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), ULM will continue to train and retrain K-12 teachers and Teacher Education Faculty in the use of technology. This training emphasizes enhancement of the curriculum through technology. The training is focused on expanding the Louisiana teacher's repertoire of instructional strategies. Community Partners include the Region 8 Teaching, Learning Technology Center and the Monroe City Schools.

Dr. Bob N. Cage, Project Director, said, "The Microsoft grants received in the past have been beneficial in furthering the technology knowledge base of classroom teachers and technology pre-service teachers in northeast Louisiana. This grant will allow us to take the training to yet another level."

In February 2002, Microsoft and the AACTE announced the Innovative Teachers grant program to address two pressing needs in the national education community: the training and retraining of K-12 teachers, and educators' ability to translate their districts' technology investments into learning benefits for students. The training program enables educators around the world to achieve their potential through an allocation from Microsoft of $50 million in software grants and development of online learning communities to share best practices. More information can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/education/?id=innovativeteachers.

"Microsoft is pleased to support the ongoing efforts of ULM to develop high-quality teachers for today and the future," said Greg Bulter, K-12 and Higher Education Professional Development Manager at Microsoft. "Technology in the hands of well-trained faculty can take education to the next level: Teachers can lecture less, spend more time one-on-one with students or small groups, and use more 'learn by doing' strategies."

"According to the U.S. Department of Education, only one in five teachers feels prepared to teach using technology," said Mary E. Dilworth, Vice President, Research and Information Service, at AACTE. "The Innovative Teachers grant program is designed to address this need by supporting expanded professional development opportunities."

Working with Dr. Cage on this project will be Ms. Jorenda Stone, Mr. Danny Hutton, Dr. Beverly Flowers-Gibson, Dr. Glenda Holland, Ms. Margaret Henderson and Dr. Gary Stringer.

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